Southern Pink Azaleas in the Secret Garden

 On the right side of our house, is a sliver of yard hidden unless you walk back there. There's a wonderful assortment of azaleas, heavy on the pink varieties with some whites and reds, that starts at the street and goes to the fence leading to the back yard. A paved path starting at the edge of the house leads you to the beautiful back wrought iron gate (one of three).

 This year after our unseasonably cold winter, they bloomed more beautiful than ever. In the fall we put up this trellis at the start of the path (a new inexpensive one, as I'm always selling the vintage ones I come across) and planted some knockout roses. And this spring, we placed some hostas on the left side, where there is almost no sun, under some Camilla trees.

We lost 8 trees last year and the stump by the gate is one of the dead ones we had to have removed. The cute sign is from a downtown neighbor store Greg's!

 Tucked back here is a cherub garden statue. I found as a set of three, but only kept one. It's hard for me as a vintage seller to sometimes not keep it all. There is also a 3-piece cast iron garden seating set. This is a very old set and the heaviest one I've ever come across. I love it's patina now, but know that soon (like my front yard swing) it will need painting to keep it from being damaged by the rust. I'm seriously considering a soft pink color, although I love the white.

 Since taking this picture I've placed a concrete urn on the tree stump. It was one of two I'd bought 4 years ago when we first bought this house. The flanked our front sidewalk on low brick wall. The first year there were about 16 attempts at stealing or vandalizing them, each time leaving them in pieces. After my sweet husband pieced them back together each time, one was eventually unsalvageable. So moved the other back here. I have no understanding of people's disregard for other's property. I'll admit to having cried the first couple of times I found them in the street broken into pieces.

 It's cool in the constant shade. Anytime I'm working outside, I take my break over here in this private spot.

I don't love my kitchen

The kitchen in our home is probably my least favorite room. Someone before us "upgraded" it by removing wonderful old white wood cabinets and replacing them with these unlevel, cheap birch ones. Since budget doesn't allow me to replace them right now, I have to get my happy from accessories. Even though these two big vintage, metal containers close the space in some, walking in and seeing them makes me smile every time.

I love these vintage German figural pillar candles

Perhaps it's nostalgia from my growing up years. Made of beeswax, they are beautiful works of art, but usually overlooked. Any time I see one for sale, I usually add to my collection. They're usually so reasonably priced compared to plain new candles. I often burn them outdoors. They are a lovely addition to a garden table. My favorite is the Bavarian flag with the heraldic seal.

This birdcage is taller than me, do you know what that means?

Yes, it came home with me. Soon to be painted white.

The Fabulous Tufted Antique Settee Project that is too long

I saw a picture of a re-done antique settee in a magazine and fell in love, but it's designer price tag was $8000.00

 Brought it home and though I had measured the front of the bay window to make sure it would fit, I had neglected to measure the back, and the sweep of it's curve is wonderfully long. It does not fit. My loss could be your gain.
 90 inches (7-1/2 feet) long by 32 inches deep. This is as long as a couch.
Four beautiful curved front legs and a nice carved center detail.
Any spots are shadows from not great photography, it was hard to photograph the yummy chocolate fabric color. You need to see to appreciate.

$1400.00 or close offer. Cash or credit card more pictures on FlickrSo I searched and found an antique settee and drove out of town to buy it. Had the frame painted in a wonderful teal blue and poly-ed. Ordered a new custom down topped cushion. Went seraching for the perfect heavy weight chocolate fabric with blue embroidered dots (17 yards- there's a piece left you can have if you fancy making a pillow or two), had it professionally reupholstered including some fabulous tufting work.

This week's vintage finds

This week's treasure hunting did not yield many things, but the ones I found are really nice. There's this vanilla-white cherub urn shaped ceramic vase and a heavy vintage metal mailbox (that could be used inside for a cute office organizer). They'll be in the store by Wednesday, if you're interested and they're also posted on etsy, along with the yummy pincushions and some other things not at the store.

Luscious velvet pincushion eye candy

As a lover and purveyor of vintage, many things cross my hands that I love and want to keep but I must say these made my heart skip a beat when I first spied these velvet pincushions. Luscious is the only word to describe this velvet; it is amazing in it's texture and depth of color.

While they would be the ultimate pincushion for a sewer of crafter, I see their true calling being as a display for a cherished brooch or pin. I can just see a fabulous cherished, antique bauble pinned on one of these and sitting on a silver or mirrored vanity tray.

They are the definition of eye candy.